Somaliland May 18

Somaliland's May 18 anniversary marks the 1991 Burao conference declaration that dissolved the union with Somalia and asserted restoration of the sovereignty briefly held in June 1960. The decision followed the fall of Siad Barre's government, a long Somali National Movement war and severe state violence and destruction in northern cities; it also emerged through locally led clan reconciliation.

Somaliland has since built separate governing institutions and commemorates May 18 as its principal national day. Somalia's federal government rejects the separation, and international status remains contested despite Somaliland's external relationships. Views are also not identical across all communities in the territory claimed by Somaliland, especially in contested eastern areas, so the guide reports Somaliland's official meaning without presenting it as universal.

Article 15 of Somaliland's 2026 Labour Law grants two paid days for May 18, with overtime compensation for work. The date is absent from Villa Somalia's federal holiday list and is not a federal national holiday. In 2026 the first day was Monday, May 18.

This is a Somaliland-calendar entry, not a uniform Federal Republic closure. Somaliland administers its own institutions and holiday law, while Somalia's federal government rejects its separation; territorial authority and political identification are especially contested in parts of Sool and Sanaag. Readers should follow the authority that actually governs their workplace and location.